IRELAND captain William Porterfield was left fuming after claiming a controversial umpiring decision cost his side victory over the West Indies in Mohali yesterday.

CAPTAIN William Porterfield rued the fact that Ireland did not put up a more imposing total as they went down to a five-wicket defeat to India in their World Cup Group B match in Bangalore yesterday.

AS Kevin O’Brien climbed into another six, and the Ireland cricket fans in the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore started to think of an improbable victory over England, Vanessa Johnston wafted through the supporters, spraying them with a stress-relieving potion.

IRELAND’S Kevin O’Brien hit the fastest hundred in Cricket World Cup history to sentence shell-shocked England to an astounding three-wicket defeat at Bangalore’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

ENGLAND captain Andrew Strauss will have questions to pose and answer before England take on South Africa in Chennai on Sunday in what has become a must-win match.

Man of the match O'Brien admitted he could not believe his feat after Ireland pulled off a stunning three-wicket win over England in Bangalore today.

Ireland's Kevin O'Brien hit the fastest hundred in World Cup history to sentence shell-shocked England to an astounding three-wicket defeat at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium tonight.

ENGLAND and India tied one of the World Cup’s greatest matches after Andrew Strauss and Sachin Tendulkar each hit scintillating centuries in Bangalore.

CAPTAIN Andrew Strauss kept his cool to help England scrape an opening World Cup win over the Netherlands after enduring a “shemozzle” of a performance in the field.

EOIN MORGAN yesterday revealed that he does not require surgery on the broken finger that ruled him out of England’s World Cup squad — and that he could have been fit before the end of the tournament.

ENGLAND’S worst World Cup fears were realised yesterday when their leading one-day batsman and former Irish star Eoin Morgan was ruled out of the tournament with a fractured finger.

ENGLAND captain Andrew Strauss has admitted Eoin Morgan could be ruled out of the World Cup because of a fractured finger.

ENGLAND finished their triumphant Ashes series yesterday with a treasured piece of history in the bag – and a taste for more.

MICHAEL CLARKE faces a “sink-or-swim” challenge when he takes over from the injured Ricky Ponting as Australia captain in the Sydney Test.

RICKY PONTING believes Mitchell Johnson’s “unbelievable” spell of fast, swing bowling transformed not just the third Test but perhaps the entire Ashes series.

EOIN MORGAN’S second Rose Bowl hundred of the summer helped England clinch the troubled NatWest Series 3-2 with a landslide 121-run victory over Pakistan.

THE England and Wales Cricket board have threatened Ijaz Butt with legal action after he claimed that English players received “huge amounts of money” to lose the third one-day international against Pakistan.

EOIN MORGAN is likely to get the opportunity to boost his Ashes credentials against Pakistan this summer after England lost the services of Ian Bell for the series.

ANDREW STRAUSS is confident his new-look England are about to go places in one-day cricket – and is hoping they can start by wrapping up their series against South Africa 3-1 today.

Ireland will attempt to overturn the odds and bring Ashes winners England crashing down to earth today in Belfast.

IRELAND coach Phil Simmons insists no side in the world would dare take liberties with cricket’s international giant-killers.

IAN BELL admitted he was surprised by the way the Brit Oval pitch played on the opening day of the decisive fifth npower Ashes Test yesterday.

CRICKET chiefs are confident the Ashes series has not been affected by corruption despite a serious betting allegation ahead of tomorrow’s crunch final Test.

RICKY PONTING accepts his pantomime villain role in this summer’s Ashes simply “goes with the territory” for a touring Australia captain.

ENGLAND captain Andrew Strauss praised the stirring response his battle-weary side gave to their underwhelming Ashes series beginning after they recorded a historic win at Lord’s yesterday.

CAPTAIN Andrew Strauss billed his unbeaten 161 as the best Test hundred of his career after England’s day of two halves against Australia at Lord’s.

ENGLAND have ruled out any prospect of sentiment influencing their selection for today’s second Ashes Test and will only include Andrew Flintoff in their Lord’s plans if he has fully recovered from knee trouble.

ENGLAND are facing an anxious wait to determine whether they face another dilemma over the balance of their side after all-rounder Andrew Flintoff emerged as a doubt for the second Ashes Test.

ENGLAND salvaged a dramatic draw in Cardiff as the first npower Ashes Test was embroiled in controversy during a tense finale.

AUSTRALIA captain Ricky Ponting is confident his team will not repeat their mistakes of four years ago when they begin their defence of the Ashes today.

MICHAEL VAUGHAN joked that being bowled out by his three-year-old son was enough to tell him it was the right time to retire from professional cricket.

ANDREW STRAUSS was delighted to finally enjoy the winning feeling again after England banished memories of a frustrating winter by beating West Indies by 10 wickets yesterday.

New England captain Andrew Strauss began his permanent term of office with the backing of fallen predecessor Kevin Pietersen.

KEVIN PIETERSEN last night resigned as England captain while coach Peter Moores was sacked on a dramatic day for English cricket.

CAPTAIN Michael Vaughan backed England to follow up completing their 3-0 Test success over West Indies at Chester-le-Street yesterday with further victory in the forthcoming one-day matches.

ENGLAND profited from a mix-up over cricket’s laws to claim a stranglehold on the third Test and move closer to a series victory over West Indies at Old Trafford.

IAN BELL settled into his most successful position in the batting order to rescue England against the West Indies at Old Trafford yesterday.

ENGLAND will fly back home from the Caribbean next week and face an inevitable clamour for change following one of their most testing winter campaigns in recent years.

ENGLAND captain Michael Vaughan admitted his side had “let a lot of people down” after they were knocked out of the World Cup in humiliating fashion by South Africa yesterday.

EOIN MORGAN knew the Cricket World Cup was a big deal but he never realised how big until a platoon of guards armed with sub-machine guns trooped into the team hotel.

Bray native Ed Joyce has been included in England's 15-man squad for the cricket World Cup.

Ireland’s preparations for the ICC World Cricket League in Nairobi could not have gone better, according to wicketkeeper-batsman Niall O’Brien.

AUSTRALIA intend to fully examine Michael Vaughan’s fitness when England’s 2005 Ashes-winning captain returns to international cricket.

SHANE WARNE savoured every second of his final confrontation with England to deliver one of his best all-round displays and put Australia on the brink of an Ashes whitewash.